


"Chest! I mean, chess!"

by Zy_Khrymzynn



Series: Nathmarc November 2020 [24]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abandoned House Exploration, M/M, Strip Chess, why is this a tag?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zy_Khrymzynn/pseuds/Zy_Khrymzynn
Summary: NMN Day 24: AdventureI made a thing. Don't know why, but I did it.
Relationships: Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Max Kanté/Lê Chiến Kim
Series: Nathmarc November 2020 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995844
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	"Chest! I mean, chess!"

Of  _ course _ it had all started because Alix and Kim could never back down from a challenge. Well also Marc and surprisingly Max couldn’t either, and that’s why they were all here, dressed in all black, flashlights at the ready.

“Are you really sure this place is abandoned?” He asked, nervously. Why did he go along with this he wasn’t sure, but sure enough he was here, ready to break into an abandoned building. “I mean, what if we got caught by the police?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Kim replied. “Me and Alix scouted out this place, and plus there’s an akuma running around. We’ll be fine.”

He sighed. Kim would probably never grow out of this kind of stuff, but Marc seemed to enjoy it so he went along with it. But that means next night they would do something  _ he _ wanted to do, and Marc knew it.

There was a barbed wire fence, but Max procured a set of wire cutters and started cutting, and within half a minute they were walking through shoulder-high grass. The yard had turned into a swamp, small puddles of water and stretches of mud, but that’s what the thigh-high rain boots tied to his leg was for. He  _ wished _ he was underprepared for this scenario, for an excuse to turn back, but Max had prepared for everything, somehow getting these boots. So they trapped through the swamp of the front yard until they reached the front doorway.

This was an old castle that had been ruined hundreds of years ago, and then repurposed into a mansion, and then ruined again, and then rebuilt again, and now lay in ruins.

There was more to the history, most certainly, but he didn’t really care to know it. They exited the swamp grass and ended up in a hedge maze. The hedges were overgrown, but there was still a rough path. He could still see the castle-mansion thing in what was probably the center, it’s structure imposing even at this distance. “So how are we going to get inside? The hedge maze looks really dangerous?”

“We’ll navigate the maze.” Max replied. And before Kim and Alix could run in opposite directions, he stopped Alix and Max stopped Kim. “If we split up we’re going to get lost really quickly. I flew a drone this way before so I know what path to take.” Max announced, before setting off in a third direction. “Follow me.”

They followed Max through countless twists and turns. He’d grabbed into Marc’s hand because he didn’t want to get lost in the twisting paths that made up the hedge maze. Ten full minutes of working their way through twisting hedges, and they ended up in a clearing, an area with dead trees and brown grass. It was strange how nothing was growing here, it only made the building look more ominous. 

“Do we… just go into the front door?” He asked. “That… doesn’t seem right.”

“It’s the safest place.” Max replied. “That’s where the castle part is most built up and safest. We’ll be exploring the other structures later, but we’ll focus on the castle part.”

The door was rotting and falling apart, so the only thing it took was Kim knocking on the door for it to collapse, and then jump back as timbers fell to the ground. They switched on their flashlights at this point, the bright light illuminating the shadows, revealing faded tapestries and carpets, picture frames with no pictures in them, armor standing there rusted, pools of stagnant water on the stone floor, and skittering noises around the area. Mice and rats then, ugh.

Max continues to lead them through the antechamber and into a room that looked like a great hall. They flicked off their flashlights at this point, but there was still illumination, the midafternoon sun filtering in through holes in the ceiling and walls, rays of bright light showing off dust floating in the air. There was an eerie silence in the air, as if it was moments from people bursting in, lighting torches in the empty wrought-iron holders, placing down food in the dishes still on the tables, and enjoying food and drink from the plates, forks, and utensils still present.

It was like walking into a painting, like he was seeing an image in real time. This was majestic in appearance.

“Alright.” Max spoke, barely above a whisper, but his voice carried around the room and he could hear it clearly. “So we’re going to split up. I know how much I said we shouldn’t split up into groups, but I think we have different things we want to see. Kim and I will head out into the castle half, and you three can head off into the mansion half. Or if you want to go to the castle half that’s fine too.”

“The mansion should be more interesting. What do you think Alix?” Marc whispered in turn.

“Sure, this sounds good.”

“Nath?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Alright, let’s get started.” Marc said, going up to and pushing a door on the other side of the room, while Max and Kim went through another door, the stone easily opening itself into a worn wooden floor, partially decayed. After going through the halls, going into all sorts of rooms, like a bedroom decorated with green, a library that they spent almost an hour in, looking at worn tomes. (Alix and him had actually had to physically hold back Marc when they left it), and then a room that was just empty. It was strange. After even more rooms that were all pretty cool, they eventually reached a fork, the two paths separating.

“I’ll go this way.” Alix said, pointing down the left fork. “You two have fun!” She winked and then dashed down the hallway. What all was that about? He then noticed that Marc was grinning. What was up with that?

“So, let’s keep looking around.” Marc said, and he went along until they reached a “game room”, where there was still a dusty chess board, which made Marc chuckle a bit.

“So… I had a weird and crazy idea.” Marc admitted, threading his hands together. “It’s been something I was thinking about doing for a while now. I don’t know if you’ll like it or not, but…”

“What is it Marc?” He asked. What was going on?

“So you’ve heard of strip poker, right?”

“Right.” He nodded. Where was this going?

Marc pointed to the chess board. “Like that but chess.”

“Like that but chess?”

“Like that but chess.”

“How… how does that work?” He asked.

“Every time we capture a piece we take off an article of clothing?”

“There’s 16 pieces.”

“So?”

“You make a good point. But won’t it be too cold?”

“Then don’t lose pieces, Nath.”

“Good point.”

“Alright, who plays which color?”

“Rochambeau?”

“Sure!”

He ended up winning, playing scissors to Marc’s paper, which meant he got to choose. He chose the lighter colored pieces, meaning he moved first. He wasn’t that good at chess, but he played the classic starting move, moving the pawn in front of the king forward two squares.

Marc responded by moving the pawn in front of the queen forward two squares, a direct challenge. He smiled and moved the pawn forward another square.

Even though he had tried not to capture a piece, he ended up capturing first to avoid losing position, but that pawn got captured in turn. Each of them took off one of the boots, laying it on the ground. 

One by one, they started losing pieces, and moving on from boots to socks to gloves and hats to outer layers.

Until there was a massive collapse of pieces, and they both captured four pieces in quick succession.

“This… this isn’t as hot as I thought it would be.” Marc admitted. “Uh… what now?”

“Call this a bad idea and pretend this never happened?”

“Yep.”


End file.
